


we are young

by Over_the_Love204



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Drama, F/M, Family, Forks, Friendship, Gen, Mystic Falls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-14
Updated: 2012-09-14
Packaged: 2017-11-14 04:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/511453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Over_the_Love204/pseuds/Over_the_Love204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On August 2004, Stefan Salvatore meets the Cullen broad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. this used to be a funhouse; but now it's full of evil clowns

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or The Vampire Diaries.

During one of his and Damon's off years, Stefan looked for a small town that would discourage his brother from visiting (Damon had always hated small towns). He remembered Forks after a few days of pondering, and when he returned in mid-summer, he discovered it was still a dreary and wet place; the weather gotten so horrible during the last weeks of July that Stefan resigned himself to buying a car. He had left his Porsche in the Salvatore Boarding house in Virginia, adverse to the idea of it becoming rusty by bringing it up to Washington with him, so Stefan had to think of a different mode of transportation. Stefan looked up some different car models, and even looked at a few Italian brands. He debated whether or not to splurge on the blue Ferrari 458 Italia. (He splurged.)

Stefan was staying in an older two story home that he'd bought years ago, in 1946, a scant year after the town had been founded. The house was probably the oldest in the area, though he didn't bother to check to see if that was so. Stefan kept it up, and though it looked quite different from when it had just been built, it was nice. It felt like a home away from home; a place Stefan could relax in. It also never hurt that Damon seldom visited him when he was in Forks. Stefan made sure he had good faked documents from a source in Seattle, and was satisfied that one said he was an emancipated teen of sixteen years. (He did not like dealing with concerned CPS officers.) 

Stefan started school the first day off by driving his new Ferrari to school and quickly found that he wasn't the only one who'd spent excessive money on an expensive car. A sleek silver Volvo sat parked in the lot, looking as shiny as something straight off the conveyor belt. Stefan side-eyed it appreciatively before picking up his messenger bag and heading into the sprawling education building. His boots squeaked on the linoleum floor from the rain as he wandered and looked for Brit Lit, his first period. The classroom was easily found, but there was only one available seat in the actual class, close the front of the room and next to a small girl with short, dark spiky hair. She turned her head towards him and Stefan amazed to see that her eyes were a bright, cheery gold that matched her brilliant smile. Her face was as white as a sheet, but she didn't appear to be sick. 

"Hello," She trilled, "I'm Alice. You can sit here, if you would like." Her voice sound like tinkling bells and she positively radiated beauty.

"Thank you," Stefan told her politely, and smiled back at her. "I'm Stefan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Stefan got out his notebook and pencil, waiting for the teacher to begin the class, but Alice shook her head out of the corner of his eye. Curious, Stefan inclined his head towards her. Alice rolled her eyes. "Ms. Bruno doesn't start the class at least fifteen minutes after the bell. She's admitted that she's pretty useless until a good cup of coffee is in her system. See?" Stefan turned to his head to see the Brit Lit teacher, Ms. Bruno, reclined in her chair, the cup the coffee clutched in her hands possessively and close to her chest. Stefan laughed a little and Alice's soft, bell-like laughter joined his.

"Where are you from?" Alice asked him. "Everyone knows everyone in a town the size of Forks, and so you stand out pretty spectacularly, especially with a jacket like that." She eyed his antique leather jacket appreciatively. 

Stefan leanedforward and said, "I moved here from Virginia. My parents passed recently." 

Alice frowned, a delicate downturn of the corners of her lips. "I'm sorry about your parents. Do you have any siblings?"

"Just one; an older brother, but we don't really get along," Stefan said lightly, and steered the conversation away from Damon. "Do you? Have any siblings, I mean."

"Oh, I'm adopted." Alice waved a hand. "But yes, I do have several brothers and a sister. My parents are Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and his wife Esme. They adopted five of us; Emmett, Rose, Edward, Jasper, and I. It's quite the houseful; hardly any privacy."

Stefan's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "How old is everyone?"

"Emmett, Jazz, and Rosalie are Juniors and Edward and I are Sophomores," Alice said, playing with her pencil. "I'm sure you'll meet everyone soon." She brightened suddenly. "Hey! Do you want to sit with us at lunch?"

Stefan deliberated; he was there to start over, but the idea of accidentally hurting anyone, students especially, made him wary. "I don't know if that's . . ." "Please?" Alice's eyelashes fluttered. Stefan sighed. "That sounds nice, Alice." Ms. Bruno cleared her throat and Stefan and Alice faced the front. "Okay, class, now that I'm fairly certain I'm not going to die of caffeine withdrawal, let's get started."

.

.

.

Lunch arrived sooner than Stefan thought possible and his stomach craved real food – the students' necks were beginning to look appetizing and their thundering heartbeats echoed in his ears. He averted his eyes and admonished himself for only feeding on a rabbit that morning.

A bronze head shot in his direction a moment later and the student scrutinized him. Alice appeared at Stefan's elbow and she towed him to the table where the bronze headed boy sat. Around him were two blonds and a thickly muscled boy with curly dark hair, all who were conversing with each other in low voices about their classes and a hunt they were planning for the weekend. 

"This is Stefan, everyone," Alice introduced. "Stef, this is Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Edward." She pointed to each of her adopted siblings as she spoke their names. Rosalie gave a derisive snort, but Emmett waved cheerfully. Jasper nodded stiffly and Edward kept scrutinizing him. Alice pushed Stefan into a seat and he felt a moment of confusion that she had the strength to do so. She was only human – Stefan froze. And felt like a total idiot. Really, Damon would be furious at Stefan's obliviousness; the five teenagers around him had no heartbeats. 

Edward mirrored Stefan - freezing in place - and narrowed his dull golden eyes at Stefan. Alice bit her lip and Jasper took her hand in his before giving Stefan a wary look of his own. 

"You're a vampire?" Edward asked underneath his breath. 

"What?" Stefan replied discreetly. "I think you're mistaken." "I don't think I am," Edward disagreed. "I just don't understand your eye color . . . or the fact that you have a heartbeat." Stefan tensed. "I can read your mind," Edward continued. Stefan wondered how much blood and Power he had to have to be able to get into his head so easily. Edward furrowed his brows, indicating that he'd heard that thought as well. "I'm gifted," He explained. "Not all vampires have gifts like I do." Stefan agreed. "You're different from any vampire I've met." "Clearly Edward's mistaken," Rosalie drawled. "No vampire has a heartbeat." She was eyeing Stefan's chest speculatively because indeed, there was a slow but steady thumping softly from there. 

Edward's head shot in Alice's direction suddenly and his eyes widened. "You knew?"

"Well, yes, I Saw it, but everything's going to be fine – look and see," The pixie like girl said and Edward's eyes glazed. Stefan shifted uncomfortably; perhaps Forks had not been the best place to settle after all. 

"What did you see?" Rosalie's eyes were narrowed, and her fingernails were digging into her palms.

"We'd better have this conversation at home," Edward said. He peered at Stefan. "If that's okay."

Stefan contemplated. It was a dangerous situation, but they could always force him or find him later if he declined now. No, it was better to get the meeting out of the way then, and he could leave town that evening if necessary. So he nodded his assent.

.

.

.

Doctor Carlisle Cullen was a gentle man with blond hair and kind eyes. His wife Esme had caramel hair that framed her heart shaped face, and her smile was intensely motherly. She greeted Stefan with open arms, delighted at having someone new visit. Introductions went all around and explanations were given to diffuse tension and confusion. Everyone was calm, and Stefan felt content for the first time in a long while; there were others like him, who thought that killing humans was wrong, and they promised to help keep him on the wagon, so to speak, if he accidentally slipped into his Ripper persona.

It was such a relief.

.

.

.

Stefan found himself over at the Cullen's home more often than not, enjoying their company. He learned that they never slept, which enabled them to do a lot of work at night. They marveled that Stefan had to sleep at all, and that he had a pulse.

He and Edward became fast friends, which Rosalie said was utterly predictable. Stefan and Jasper became close as well; having been both been alive during the Civil War, they found that they had a bit in common and a lot of history they could discuss and debate over. Stefan shared that Damon had been in the Confederate army, like Jasper had been. Alice delighted that she had a new person to help pick out clothes for, and Stefan didn't mind too much. (He kind of liked having more friends than just Lexi). . . . 

Stefan hunted with the Cullen's for the first time on a weekend, where they quickly ran through the dense forest to the border of Washington and Canada, where they found more game. Their expedition taught Stefan a few things; one, the Cullen's were faster than him – but not by much. He could keep up with them for the most part, but found that it drained his energy exponentially. Two, the Cullen's did not eat rabbits. They took down big prey; some of the animals were three to four times their size with their brute strength. Stefan wondered how they could keep it all down.

Emmett was a fan of bears, Stefan soon found out. He and Emmett had branched off from the others accidentally, but Emmett wasn't worried, and waved off Stefan's concerns. "We'll catch up later. I smell a bear – wanna help take it down?"

Stefan found that he couldn't say no to a person like Emmett, who a big kid at heart. So they followed the scent to a large grizzly bear, and Emmett let Stefan try his hand at it first. Stefan sped around, confusing the beast, but the grizzly managed to get in a good swipe to Stefan's abdomen, gouging out his stomach. Stefan gasped, and fell back against a tree as his body began to slowly knit itself back together. Emmett finished off the bear snapping its neck, and offered Stefan a drink worriedly.

"Are you going to be okay?" Emmett's golden eyes were wide.

"Yeah," Stefan choked out. "This? It's nothing, really." But he gratefully drank the bear's blood, and found that he could only stomach so much. Emmett drained the rest, and by the time he was done, Stefan's wound was mostly healed. He winced as he stood up straight.

"Right. Let's get back to the house," Stefan suggested. They took off at a slower pace, Emmett lagging behind on purpose until Stefan regained his footing. The two vampires arrived at the Cullen house to find everyone there, worried.

"I saw what happened, are you alright?" Alice flitted over, and Esme fussed over him, and Stefan waved them all off. Even Rosalie looked a little worried, but her face smoothed over.

"Well, I guess we know who's the more durable vampire then," Was all she said.

.

.

.

Weeks turned to months, and the months flew by until it was almost a year after Stefan had met the Cullen's. Damon didn't bother him at all, which Stefan thought was vaguely suspicious, but he didn't dwell on it, for Edward always picked up those thoughts and would frown at Stefan. He found himself integrating into their family with ease and grew to care strongly for this bunch of weird vampires; he found it funny that they sparkled, but when he mentioned it, Edward had wryly said, "I'd rather sparkle than burst into flames."

"But I've got one of these," Stefan wiggled his ring finger in Edward's direction.

Emmett plopped down on the couch next to Stefan and wondered aloud, "I wonder if we wore those if we could go out into the sunlight without sparkling."

Stefan and Edward exchanged glances and the latter said, "Let's find out." They couldn't ask Alice if it would work because she and the girls had gone on an extended shopping trip for the first half of the summer in New York. Carlisle was at the hospital and Jasper was hunting alone for the sunny afternoon.

Stefan took off his ring from his hand, and found that he was trembling nervously. Edward noticed, and said to Emmett in a commanding tone, "Close the curtains, Em. Make sure no sunlight gets in here." Stefan's hand felt bare without it; he had never taken off the daylight ring since Emily had put it on his finger. He handed it to Edward gently and the latter slipped it onto his own appendage with great care. Edward ghosted out of the front door and stood in the sun. He called back into the house – "It works!" He laughed with incredulity and flitted back into the house, handing Stefan his daylight ring back.

Emmett's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Really?" He turned to Stefan. "How do we get one?"

"I can call my friend Lexi and see if she's knows any witches that can spell your family rings," Stefan said. The Cullen brothers smiled at each other.

.

.

.

School started again and the faculty found it strange the Cullen's no longer took their extended camping trips on sunny days.

.

.

.

The Cullen's enjoyed their newfound freedom in the sun, relishing in its warmth. Summer ended and winter passed, ushering in the Spring time, though you could hardly notice with all the rain. But a day in March of 2003 changed the Cullen's and Stefan's lives forever.

Stefan and Edward sitting next to each other in AP Biology when she walked into the room. Stefan found nothing out of the ordinary with her, but Edward's head snapped to attention and he stared at her. His nostrils flared and Stefan put a hand on Edward's arm to keep him from leaping up to attack the human girl.

They barely made it through the class, before Edward charged out of the room full speed with Stefan on his heels nervously. Edward attempted to change his schedule, but the administrator was unable to. Edward pleaded with his eyes to Stefan to compel the woman, but Stefan could not; his compulsion was weak without him feeding on human blood.

At lunch Edward shot the girl confused looks, with his brows furrowed and his breath held.

Finally, Stefan asked, "Do you even know her name?"

Edward responsed quickly and quietly, "It's Bella. Just Bella."


	2. bella attracts all kinds of vampires (it's a thing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Bella's a vampire magnet and everyone loves her (except for Rosalie, of course).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not The Twilight Saga nor do I own The Vampire Diaries.

Bella Swan was a conundrum. She was by all means plain; plain straight brown hair, pale, thin, and really truly clumsy. She did okay in school, but it wasn't like she was a straight-A student. But there was something about her that drew people in. Something that made people want to know her. It could have been her kind heart; bold as a lion, but as gentle as a lamb. Whatever it was, it seemed to really appeal to vampires.

Edward Cullen loved her almost instantly, drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Alice Cullen attached herself to Bella, much like she had done to Stefan a year or so ago. The two girls became fast friends and as close as sisters. Esme Cullen could not help mother the young human, and Carlisle could not help with love her like a daughter. Emmett Cullen was always up for a laugh, which Bella seemed to provide, whether intentionally or not. Rosalie Hale – she does not particularly like Bella, but it is because she is jealous of the girl's humanity, her able to bare children, while Rosalie will never be able to. Jasper Hale enjoys Bella's happiness – his empathy makes him feel every emotion in the spectrum, and Bella's love for Edward fills her up, and consequently, Jasper as well.

Stefan Salvatore enjoys Bella's company. It is as simple as that. They share a love for reading, and they can talk for hours – when Edward allows it, anyway – about books and poems and any kind of literature, really. Stefan's guilty pleasures include some of Bella's favorite books and sometimes they'll sit on her bed and talk by themselves about them.

(This is all before and after Bella learns they are all vampires.)


	3. he saves one brother and misses another; it's unfortunate, but life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Stefan misses his brother (Damon) and helps rescue his other brother (Edward).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries.

Stefan has not heard from Damon from years (it was in 1994, and they had this huge fight, and Stefan doesn't care to think about, even now eleven years later) – it's ridiculous, but he misses his big brother. Edward catches these thoughts sometimes and Stefan can tell he wonders why he would miss someone like Damon – who has promised Stefan an eternity of misery – and Stefan wants to tell him that they're brothers, and that just doesn't go away because they turned into vicious, blood sucking vampires.

(Edward disagrees, but Edward was an only child as a human, so he can't understand this. He has brothers, sure, but they're not biological, and they don't have the tumultuous relationship that Stefan&Damon do.)

Stefan sees Edward, Emmett, and Jasper as brothers, and they see him the same way (at least Stefan thinks so, he *hopes* so). He loves his brothers (all of them, even the wayward Damon) so when one of them (the one who has the fascination with the human, Bella) has his heart broken and goes across the country (the world) to seek some time alone, Stefan wants to follow him (just to make sure he doesn't go and get himself killed). But he ends up staying in Ithaca, New York with the rest of his new (adopted) family.

Then Alice has the vision (the one that changes everything, irrevocably, forever) and so she says she must go and console Charlie, who must be horrified that his only daughter has committed suicide over a boy. (That's she's committed suicide at all). Stefan volunteers to go with her and doesn't take no for an answer.

They go back to Forks and sneak into Charlie's house, waiting for him when the door opens and they see Bella (she's like ghost, she's so pale, and she smells like salt water, and wet dog, and she appears to have lost a lot of weight *which isn't healthy as she was on the thin side to begin with*). Bella's ecstatic to see them, and no of course not she hasn't tried to kill herself, haven't you ever heard of cliff diving?

(No, Stefan hasn't, and he's been around for a long time.)

Then the origin of the wet dog smell is revealed, and apparently he'd been lurking outside, and so he comes inside and is pissed that they're leeches inside Bella's house (inside of her life, her heart, and her mind). Alice and Stefan excuse themselves so Bella and her dog can talk privately. Stefan's standing still next to Alice when she had the other vision (the one that is just as important as the other one) and then they're rushing inside to tell Bella about Edward's apparent death wish. (It's all so Romeo and Juliet that Stefan wants to cry)

After a touching good-bye scene in which Bella gives up her new best friend (practically) and he leaves in a huff, exploding into a ginormous wolf, running away into the forest (but Bella and Alice don't see because Alice is so focused on driving and not trying to do that thing that her kind of vampires do when they want to cry, and Bella is in her own world, worrying about Edward and Volturi and the huge mess that is about to unfold.)

They steal a yellow Porsche and drive through Volterra like bats out of hell and then they're stopping and Alice is telling Bella she has to run to the clock tower, because Edward will hear her and Stefan's thoughts and hurry through with his plan to expose himself. (Apparently he'd chucked his ring somewhere and that kind of pisses Stefan off because it actually Lexi a lot of convincing to get the Cullen's rings to start with). Bella agrees and runs through a fountain and everything and just barely manages to rescue Edward, but then Alice is having a vision and telling Stefan to hurryhurryhurry.

Edward and Bell are in a tough spot when Alice and Stefan get there ("The girl comes with us" "No; you can go to hell")

"Come on, guys," Alice said, taking down her scarf and lifting her sunglasses to rest on her head, "It's a festival. You wouldn't want to make a scene, would you?"

The two vampires (Felix and Demetri) grudgingly agree with her, but then they catch sight of Stefan. They tilt their heads in confusion at the Salvatore, who their eyes are telling them is a human, bother noses are telling them is a vampire. (It's a confusing affair for these Volturi henchmen).

"Enough," This is Jane, the lovely young blond vampire with ruby red eyes. Her hair is sitting on her head in a bun and her voice is chilly as she speaks. (Stefan shivers).

"Jane," Edward mutters quietly, unsettled by her presence.

"Aro sent me to see what was taking so long," Jane says, eyeing them all, and taking in Stefan's form last. "And what is this? You smell as if you were a vampire, but your hearts beats blood through your veins and your eyes remain green."

Stefan let's her see nothing of himself, but says, "I'm a special kind of vampire."

(This unsettles her, but he doesn't show it. Much.) Jane leads them back through the halls and they enter an elevator that is playing a classical piece of music that Stefan knows by heart. Edward is handed a red robe of the Volturi's to wear, and Bella clings to her love with all of her human might, scared and trembling like a leaf. They all emerge from the elevator and walk through a vast hallway, and Stefan scents a human woman.

("Does she know -?" "Yes" "Then why would – she wants to be –" "And she will" "Be for dinner")

Jane takes them to a grand hall with three majestic thrones in the epicenter with three ancient vampires sitting in them. Another young looking vampire joins Jane, (Alec is his name) and greets her warmly.

"What a happy surprise!" Aro welcomes them, "Bella is alive after all!" He steps down from his throne and walks towards them at a human pace, clapping his hands joyfully. (He is unhinged is Stefan's first *and lasting* impression.)

"And who is this?" Aro inhaled deeply, and frowned in puzzlement. He observes Stefan obtrusively, and comments on his eyes, "Such a peculiar thing, you are, may I take your hand?"

It is an odd request, one that Stefan is suspicious of (but it's one of those things where you don't really have choice in the matter) and he extends his hand slowly. Aro takes it and closes his eyes in delight and a smile blooms across his face.

"Such a marvel, you are, young Stefan Salvatore. I shall tell you if I see your brother Damon any tell soon, yes? Such a curious species of supernatural."

"What is he?" Caius' voice drawls, a hint of distrust laced in it.

"Why, he's a vampire, but simply a different breed. They are much more . . . delicate than us, but he has such power and potential locked away that his diet prevents from breaking forth. Such a waste . . .

"But, alas, that is not why these fine young ones came today, is it?" Aro asks, and peers at Edward and Bella again. He sighs and says, "Oh, I just love a happy ending," And takes Edward's hand this time, reading his thoughts. (Stefan realizes this is what Aro does, now.)

"Her blood appeals to you so much . . ." Aro trails off, looking at Bella. Stefan steps closer to his human friend, hands twitching to take hers in comfort. Her heart is racing a hundred miles an hour, terrified.

"It makes me thirsty. How can you stand to be so close to her?"

"It's not without difficulty," Edward says, strained.

"I can see that," Aro chuckles and Edward explains to Bella who hasn't yet picked up on the older vampire's talent.

"Aro can read every thought you've ever had with a single touch. And now you know everything," Edward says now to Aro, "So get on with it."

"You are such a soul reader yourself, Edward. And yet, you cannot read young Bella's mind at all," Aro says and Stefan sees his smile drop from his face. "Fascinating. I would love to see if you are immune to my gift, as well. Would you do the honor?"

(Stefan is afraid that Aro is going to hurt or kill Bella, but all his does is get frustrated when he can't read her thought either. He asks Jane try her thing next, and Edward and Alice are horrified at even the thought, so Stefan doesn't even think as he jumps in front of Bella as Jane focuses her attention on her.)

Pain like nothing Stefan's ever felt before laces through his body; worse than when his father had shot him, than Katherine's bites, when he'd had Vervain in his system, and when he's been shot with wooden bullets. It's frying his nervous system and he's aware of distant screaming, and realizes, hey that's me, and is that Bella and Alice? When it stops, and Stefan realizes he's on the floor, trembling.

His family clearly wants to run to his side, but the fear of the Volturi keep them in place. ("It's not real, it was in your head, you're fine" is muttered, but Stefan cannot believe such excruciating torture can only be in his mind.)

"Master?" Jane questions, ready to hit Bella now that Stefan is out of the way.

"Go ahead, my dear," Aro murmurs and Stefan's eyes are as wide as saucers as Jane turns her fiery gaze onto Bella ("This may hurt just a little,") and nothing happens. Jane is furious, but Stefan is melting with relief, along with Edward and Alice. Aro laughs aloud, murmuring things to himself.

"What are we going to do with you now?"

"You already know what you're going to do, Aro," Marcus' gravelly voice carries across the room. Stefan is just now getting up off the floor, and Edward, Alice, and Bella pat him and rub his arm to make sure he's still there.

"She knows too much; she's a liability," Caius says with a little too much glee, and Aro sighs.

"That's true," Aro sighs again, "Felix." Alec is dragging Bella over to Felix and the room falls into pandemonium, and Bella's behind Edward, and then Alice and Stefan are being held into tight, marble arms and Felix is throwing Edward around the room.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Bella's screaming, and Stefan's cursing, and Alice is deathly silent.

"Kill me, kill me," Bella begs, and Stefan wants to say no, not her, but the grip is too tight on his larynx, "Kill me instead. Not him."

Aro stops the proceedings, curiously. "How extraordinary. You would give your life . . . for one of us? A vampire? A soulless monster . . ."

"Don't," Bella snaps, "Don't talk about his soul. You know nothing about Edward's soul." Aro mutters in Italian and Stefan understands what he's saying, translating it in his own head.

"This is a sadness. If only it were your intention to give her immortality," Aro sighs at Edward and Stefan wants to yell that he'll turn her, if he has to, but Alice beats him to the point.

"Wait! Bella will be one of us. I've seen it! I'll turn her myself." Aro walks over to Alice like a hunter stalking his prey and violates her mind as well, watching the vision through her eyes.

"Mesmerizing. To see what you've seen . . . before it happens," He turns to Bella, "Your gifts . . . make for an intriguing immortal. And you, Stefan Salvatore," Aro peers at him, "I wonder what would happen if any of our venom was to . . . permeate your bloodstream . . ."

"Don't you touch him," Edwards says, raggedly.

"It is fine . . . go then. Make your preparations for your new life, Bella," Aro makes hand gestures for Edward and Alice and Stefan to be released by their captors. They scurry away before Aro can change his mind, walking through the great halls which have an ominous feel to them now, and they board a plane back to Forks. (Back to home, back to family).

Esme and Carlisle embrace them all when they get back and Edward gets Bella home quickly. Jasper picks up Alice's tiny form and doesn't let her go all night, and Stefan is hugged and kissed (by Esme) and they are all taken home. Stefan is about to sleep when Edward and Bella come crashing through the door, and Bella wants to vote on her becoming an immortal. (Stefan has no qualms if that's what she truly wants; just because he was turned against his will doesn't mean some people want to be in this life.)

He votes yes, because Stefan already sees her as a sister, but his brother (Edward) feels betrayed. Stefan is apologetic, but not regretful. He sleeps at the Cullen's home (his home) that night.

Stefan may have not heard from Damon for years (eleven, to be precise) but he has this new family and he hopes that Damon will maybe join it. Someday.


	4. In which there is a battle involved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Victoria is a problem (again), there is a graduation, and Stefan gets down and dirty (Not *that kind* of dirty.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries; end of story.
> 
> This one has a little bit of profanity in it, so be warned.

"Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if I had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say it for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice."

Stefan and Bella love novels and poetry – Robert Frost is one of Bella's favorites.

"I just think it's a little morbid, is all," Stefan appeals to Bella, lying on her carpet on the floor of her bedroom.

"This coming from the vampire," Bella teases. She gets up from her bed and walks over to her shelf to put her book away. Her eyes glance over her other titles, skimming past them all.

"Doesn't your Dad mind that you have a teenage boy in your room?" Stefan wonders aloud, picking at the stray strings on Bella's purple rug. Bella turns around and walks back to her bed, sitting on it slowly.

"Actually, I think he thinks that you're gay," Bella said, the corners of lips curling up into a smile.

Stefan raises his eyebrows, "Really? Why?" He's not upset (his masculinity has not been threatened) as much as he is intrigued to see why Bella's father would think that.

"It's because he thinks I'm your best friend and we're always hanging out. And you have an impeccable sense of fashion," Bella tacked the last bit on teasingly, "And of course, you don't have a girlfriend."

"First of all," Stefan corrects, "It's Alice who has the impeccable sense of fashion; I'm just her live Ken doll. Secondly, all of my previous girlfriends having ended up dead."

"That can't possibly be true," Bella says, disbelief coloring her voice.

"Oh, it's true," Stefan assures, "I swear on my father's grave."

Bella purses her lips, but changes the subject quickly enough, "So, I thought you were a shoo-in for the Valedictorian."

It works, as Stefan gets worked up (like she knew he would.) "I can't Jessica Stanley got picked. I have a 5.0 GPA."

"But you don't do any extracurricular things," Bella points out.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And didn't you go to Harvard or something? Jessica Stanley will never get into Harvard. So there's no need to be jealous," Bella says.

"I'm not jealous," Stefan denies.

"Of course not."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan and Bella arrive at school in his Ferrari, meeting Edward and Alice in front of the Volvo. Rose, Em, and Jazz have since graduated since the Romeo&Juliet incident (this is how Stefan categorizes it in his mind, because it's much too awful to think about it plainly). Edward takes Bella into his arms and kisses her gently and Bella wants more but – And Stefan's looking away. Alice giggles at him and takes Stefan by the arm and leads him into school, talking a mile minute about the graduation party she's going to throw (but Stefan is not supposed to tell Bella, because she'll flip her lid).

The day is standard, as far as days go. Stefan has all of his classes with at least one of his family members (they are his family) except one, which is his art class (Emmett thinks it's funny that Stefan's taking Art, but Esme gets after him for laughing). That's not until sixth period though.

During Lunch, Alice has a vision that is clearly startling to her. Edward, Stefan, and Bella distract their human friends from Alice's absent minded-looking face until the vision is over, which is soon. Stefan begins to relax, but then Alice is still so tense, and so is Edward, Stefan becomes nervous as well. The rest of the day is nerve wracking, but finally, Edward takes Bella home.

When he returns, everyone is at the house waiting for him and Alice to explain. "Victoria's back," Edward says and the tension skyrockets until Jasper lulls everyone into a false calm. He and Alice's hands are glued to each other, and Rosalie is sitting in Em's lap on the couch. Esme gasps; her hand fluttering to her mouth in shock, and Carlisle rubs soothing circles onto her back.

"I'm going to remind Bella about her tickets to Jacksonville so you can take care of Victoria while Bella's away," Edward says, and there's a little disagreement (mostly from Rose, "I just don't see why she's so important,"). Edward does so the next day, and then that weekend he and Bella disappear to Jacksonville, where Edward will have to stay inside ("You chucked the last ring I gave you into a trash bin in Italy – I'm not getting you another one." "Please?" "Lexi wouldn't be able to get her witch to spell another ring, anyway, Edward" "Why?" "All witches hate vampires; it's like a requirement, or something")

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the Cullen's meet in the forest on that Saturday, the day Alice's vision takes place. They're standing in the woods quietly, waiting for something to happen – ("Are you sure that this is where you saw it?" "I'm sure. She's almost here") ("To your left!")

And then they're off, chasing Victoria through the forest, ("She'll get away!" "No she won't!") And then Stefan almost has her, but she escapes by the skin of her teeth, leaping over a ravine ("Wait. She's in their territory"). Stefan follows her automatically though, but everyone's yelling at him, and Stefan wonders what the hell is going on – oh shit that's one giant fucking wolf!

Emmett's by his side, ("Emmett, no!") snarling at the gray wolf and Stefan feels his face vamping out, and Victoria's gotten away. The big black wolf seems like the leader and makes the gray one back down, but all of them are snarling at Stefan and Emmett and the rest of the Cullen's. They get away, but only because of the treaty Carlisle made so long ago.

Bella returns and Stefan's glad to see her, but she has no idea of what happened over the weekend (he wants to tell her, but his brother's made him promise not to) and then she runs off with Jacob at school on the back of his motorcycle the next day ("Stefan, Emmett, and Paul had a little misunderstanding over the treaty line. It's not a big deal" "She is the one the red head wants" "Victoria?" "You lied to me!") It's a mess and Stefan points out to Edward ("You should have told her" "Shut up, Stefan")

Stefan's tired of the love triangle between Edward and Bella and Jacob (ironic, and Stefan wonders if that's what people felt when they saw Damon&Katherine&Stefan in the 1800s).

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan's wandering around the Cullen house, eating a chocolate chip cookie when he passes the living room. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jazz are watching the television avidly, so Stefan walks inside to see what's going on. (There's been a lot of murders and 'accidental' deaths.)

"What's going on with all of the vampires is Seattle?" Stefan wonders aloud innocently, and everyone's heads swivel to him.

"You think it's vampires?" Em asks and Stefan furrows his brows, takes another bite of his cookie. (Esme is a great cook.)

He swallows and says, "Of course. You mean it's not vampires?"

"It would make sense if it was," Jasper says, and Stefan's heard his story before (bloodshed and murder and awfulness, much like Stefan's past, but Jasper's was kind of inflicted on him and Stefan was *is* a blood junkie.) "Newborns," Jasper finishes.

"It could be my kind," Stefan suggests, and hopes and all hopes that's it's not Damon (then he'd have to choose between this family and his old one).

Edward comes home then in a tizzy with Bella, going off about strange vampires in Bella's room. Em and Jazz go to see if they recognize the scent, and Stefan instantly thinks about Damon (Edward shoots Stefan a look, before shaking his head slowly. Stefan lets out a relieved sigh.) Stefan and Alice help to comfort Bella by talking about anything and everything for as long as possible. (She cheers up and then Em and Jasper are back.)

"Who is it? Someone we know?" Carlisle asks them.

"Could it be someone passing through?" Esme asks.

Rosalie shoots down Esme's suggestion immediately, "A passerby wouldn't have left Bella's father alive."

Jasper and Em begin to contribute, "The scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house."

"Someone's orchestrating this," Carlisle says softly.

"Victoria?" Bella asks nervously.

"I would have seen her decide," Alice responds quickly, but Stefan says, "Not necessarily. You miss things sometimes, Alice."

"It has to be the Volturi," Edward moans quietly.

"I don't think it's the Volturi either; I've been watching Aro's decisions too," Alice says to her brother.

"So we'll keep lookin'," Emmett says.

"We'll all take shifts guarding Bella at her house," Carlisle looks at each of his family members in the eye.

Rosalie isn't happy with this new development. "Another protection detail?"

"Rosalie," Carlisle chastises.

"She's right," Bella is quick to respond, and Stefan frowns at her, "You can't protect me, watch my dad, and search for the intruder. It's impossible."

"And for Victoria," Rosalie adds.

"And keep yourselves fed," Bella continues.

Edward protests and he and Bella are upset at each other and Stefan doesn't care for their fighting. He excuses himself but hears Bella suggest that her wolf friends will help.

Ick.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan gets to patrol even less than the other Cullen's because, unlike them, he has to sleep. He's just getting in from one of his shifts when he sees Em, Jazz, and Carlisle watching the news again.

"It's getting worse. We have to do something," Carlisle says.

"It takes more than one of our kind to do something like this," Jasper agrees with him.

"You think it's an army?" Stefan asks from the doorway and everyone looks at him, having known he was there for the past few minutes.

"Yes," Jazz says, because he would know about this kind of thing, "I think someone's making an army of newborns."

"This far north?" Emmett asks (He's not dumb, and he picks up on stuff like this.)

"It seems unlikely, but look at the evidence," Jasper explains to him. Stefan makes his way into the living room and sits stands beside Carlisle's chair. They all pick up on Edward's car in the drive way, and then the two lovebirds themselves have joined them.

"We are definitely going to Seattle," Emmett hops up off the couch, excited at the prospect of a good fight.

"Why would an army of vampires come here? To fight you?" Bella asks, aghast at the idea.

"We're the only clan even close to Seattle," Edward says.

Carlisle interrupts, "It doesn't matter why they were made, only that if we don't stop them, the Volturi will." Stefan shivers at the name. ("I wonder what would happen if any of our venom was to . . . permeate your bloodstream . . .") He has nightmares about that voice saying that in his ear every time he shuts his eyes. Stefan does not want to meet Aro ever again. (Doesn't want to give him the chance to try out his theory on Stefan.) Edward notices Stefan's trail of thought and frowns at him, concerned. Stefan avoids eye contact.

"I'm surprised they've let it go on this long," Carlisle continues.

"Maybe they're behind it," Edward suggests, "In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice . . . and Stefan to join him. But he knows we'll never choose him as long as our family is still alive."

"An army could solve that for him," Jasper says bitterly, furious at even the thought of someone taking Alice away from. Stefan flounders over his name on the list of names on Aro's collection of people he wants for his coven. (He doesn't want to go back to horror and bloodshed – and that is all that can possibly come out of a life with the Volturi.) Carlisle shoots down the idea of the Volturi ever condoning something like this, but Stefan (and Edward and Bella) have their doubts.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan and Bella are in his room this time, at his own house. Bella was shocked at the size of it ("All this for one person?" "Yeah. I like the space") His house is fully furnished in an old, early 1900s style. ("It's like walking into a museum!")

But they are not at his house to marvel over his obsession with his favorite era. They talk about the kiss that she shared with Jacob (Because she certainly wasn't going to talk to Edward about it, and Alice didn't like Jacob much at all *not that Stefan really did either* and Alice cared for Edward much too much to be a good third party.)

Once the awkward conversation is over, Stefan congratulates Bella on hitting her first werewolf. She blushes and stutters. (Stefan laughs.) They talk about books and the graduation party Stefan isn't supposed to tell Bella about. Eventually, Bella broaches the subject of Damon. ("Why isn't he here in Forks?" "Do you want a massacre?")

("Why don't you talk to him?" "He hates me" "Why?" "I made him turn" "oh"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah.

Their graduation comes and goes and then it's time for the party. Alice has a vision, and then the wolves are pulled in further into Stefan and other Cullen's lives, and then they're figured into the battle plans for when they confront the newborn vampire army. They plan to meet in the forest to all train together for the big fight, and it comes too soon for Stefan's liking.

Jasper trains them all, and Alice and Edward are really the only ones with any chance at beating the war veteran, but only Alice truly gets the drop on him. (These vampires are stronger than Stefan's kind – at least when he's only drinking animal blood. His family has some reservations about letting him fight after seeing him train. He's just a bit too fragile for their liking for this kind of battle. *Stefan tries not to be offended and kind of fails*.)

Jasper tells Bella of his history (much like Rose had done the other night, hoping to dissuade Bella from her decision to become a vampire – it didn't work) and the next day, Bella tells them of her theory that Victoria's using a puppet to make all the decisions for her army. (She's right, of course.)

When the battle's close, Bella tried to get Edward to let her come with them. She makes Edward choose between an ultimatum, but Edward blindsides her by suggesting Stefan stay with her during the battle at the top of the mountain, within a short enough distance that Edward can come help if necessary. Bella grudgingly agrees, (She wants Edward safe – Stefan understands that.) and they spend the night in a tent with Jacob outside. (He and Seth are going to switch in time for the battle.)

The temperature drops to below zero (in June? How awful.) And Jacob shoves his way into the tent to keep Bella warm. (As human as Stefan looks, he still retains a moderately cool temperature all the time – he's pretty much room temp.) The sun rises once more and time for Jacob to leave. When Stefan thinks he's gone, he asks Bella how she feels about her engagement to Edward. (She's happy and nervous all at the same time.) But it turns out that Jacob wasn't gone, and Bella accuses Stefan of mentioning the wedding on purpose for Edward (Stefan would never do that) and she ends of kissing Jacob to keep him from committing suicide by newborn vampire.

(Yeah, Stefan doesn't get it either.)

Seth returns and everything goes well until Victoria shows up with her pal, Riley Biers. Stefan has only a moment to think, oh shit, we're all going to die, before the bitch attacks him. Seth takes on Riley and Stefan fights with as much viciousness as a bat out of hell. (He's not letting this vampire take away his family, and that includes Bella.) Stefan bites Victoria's neck, and he wonders how his teeth haven't shattered, (because that fecking hurts!) but his canines penetrate her skin. She hisses in rage and pulls back before any of her venom can get into Stefan's mouth ("I wonder what would happen if any of our venom was to . . . permeate your bloodstream . . .") 

Stefan uses her momentary distraction (and disgust) to rip her head of her fucking body and Riley's screaming in anguish, but then he's dead too. Seth and Stefan clean up the mess, and then Bella's clinging to Stefan ("Are you okay? Please, please, be okay"). The fire must have tipped someone off, because Edward appears and takes Bella into his arms. ("What happened?" "Victoria" "She found us" "But I kicked her ass, so you don't have to worry")

A horrible howl ligers in the air and Edward stiffens. ("It's Jacob – he's hurt" "No!")

They go down there, and then Alice has another vision (Stefan begins to dread her visions). ("The Volturi are coming" "It's too late for us to leave, but the wolves must disappear" "There's no telling what they'd do to them")

Stefan worries that Aro will come, but he's glad that he doesn't. It's Jane (he shivers – the vampire is terrifying for such a little thing) Felix, Demetri, and Alec. They comment on Bella still being alive, and then they order the death of the little newborn hiding behind Carlisle and Esme (when had she gotten there?) and Esme tries to stop them. (It doesn't work and the girl – Bree – is killed anyway.) ("The Volturi doesn't give second chances")

Stefan and the Cullen's take the comment as the warning that it is, glancing at Bella ("The date is set"). The Volturi leave, but not before Jane gives Stefan a last parting glance.

It creeps him out.

Stefan spends the night at the Cullen's again (When doesn't he, anymore?) and Edward's with Bella at her house. (He's thanked Stefan a million times for keeping Bella safe from Victoria).


	5. Wedding Crashers Should Be Terminated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Bella&Edward get hitched, preggers (well, Bella does, in any case), and turn into a vampire (also Bella). Oh, and Damon crashes the reception. Part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any quotes, The Twilight Saga, or The Vampire Diaries.

"Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age

The child is grown, and puts away childish things.

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies."

Stefan reads aloud from the book of quotes and poetry Bella owns. They're in her room, hiding from Alice. (As far as hiding places go, Stefan admits this one is the worst.) "This is very upsetting; now I know for a fact that Damon can remain childish for his entire existence. Thank you, Bella." But he says it teasingly so she knows he's just kidding around with her. Bella opens her mouth to say something (Probably how his awful jokes aren't making her forget that her best friend *the werewolf one* is gone and is probably not coming back) but then Alice is in her room, screaming at them (okay, not screaming, just persuading them loudly) to get their butts back to the Cullen home for their dress and tux fittings.

Bella and Stefan sigh to each other, and resign themselves to a long and arduous afternoon (and evening, and night) of being Alice's real live Barbie and Ken. Alice drags them out of the house and to her car, (they pass Charlie who's laughing at them silently. Bella silently promises retribution) the yellow Porsche. Bella gets shotgun because she calls it ("And she's a guest, Stefan" "She hasn't been a guest since James")

They all get the Cullen house to see everyone setting up the area outside where they will be married, and there are tents constructed and it's very beautiful. (Stefan isn't sure what he would have wanted his wedding to be like, but he thinks this setup is nice; very Bella.) Emmett waves as he passes with a huge tree log, and Jasper nearly bumps into him.

"Okay, Bella, I need you to keep trying to break in these shoes. You have to wear them down the aisle tomorrow, and you absolutely cannot trip," Alice says to Bella sternly, and Stefan resists a snicker.

"You," Alice points, "Get over here."

And this is how they all spend the day before Edward and Bella's wedding. Edward takes her home that evening, promising to be back for his bachelor party. (They all know they'll have to drag him away from Bella's window.)

When they finally get him away from his bride-to-be, they go hunting in the forest (like Edward promised Bella they would) and then as they go home, they take a detour into Seattle ("That's some detour," Edward tells Stefan wryly.) They go to bar where Stefan gets drunk and everyone has fun laughing at him. Stefan sees a dark headed man and spins to look for his brother but just sees a human. (That's fin because Stefan doesn't know what he'll say to Damon if *when* he sees him again.)

They go home and Esme tsks at Stefan's state and just points towards one of the bedrooms. Carlisle is trying to be disapproving, but failing ("Boys . . ."), Alice snorts ("Just make sure there is not alcohol scent on him in the morning"), and Rosalie laughs out loud and takes a picture (Stefan would be surprised at this in the morning, but he's too drunk to care right now.)

In the morning Stefan is grateful vampires don't get hangovers and takes a long shower to make sure all of the scotch and beer smell is out of his skin and hair. (He wants to make a good impression on the Denali Clan.) Stefan dresses in his tux and takes the ribbing from his brothers and sisters with good grace and waits for the bride to get here. (She does but no one tells her about Stefan getting drunk because that would involve telling her about the extended bachelor party at the bar.)

Bella's other family soon starts to filter in (which is Charlie, Renee, and her husband, Phil). The guests start arriving next and Edward is secretly a bundle of nerves. (Not that he'll let anyone see, but Stefan and he are so similar, that Stefan just knows.) Stefan seeks him out and slaps him on the back comfortingly and assures him that his love life is destined to be much better than Stefan's. (Edward laughs; mission succeeded.) Then it's time to take their seats and Bella is walking down the aisle with Charlie ("Don't let me fall, Dad").

They're married soon (and Stefan hears some interesting theories on why they're getting married. "Do you think Bella's showing yet?" "Jess, Bella isn't pregnant!") And they kiss for like, ten minutes, (Stefan's happy for them, truly, but PDA much?) Then the reception gets here and everyone makes great speeches. ("I hope you've gotten enough sleep in the last eighteen years Bella, 'cause you won't be getting any more for a while" "Well Bella was just like everybody else, totally mesmerized my Edward, or the hair, as I call him" "Edward will be a good husband. I know this because...because I'm a cop, I know things. Like how to hunt somebody to the ends of the earth")

Everyone dances ("You're monopolizing the bride. Let me dance with my little sister. This could be my last chance to make her blush") and Alice and Jasper dominate one dance number. Stefan's relaxing and slipping some wine without some of the other adults noticing when he sees him. (To be fair, he saw Stefan first.)

"Hello, Brother," Damon's voice is right behind him, and Stefan can't help but spin around, eyes large and round.

"Damon," Stefan breathes and every vampire in the vicinity freezes and shoots glances in their direction.

"I'm insulted; you didn't invite me to the reception," Damon drawls.

"I didn't handle the wedding invitations, and it's not my day, in any case," Stefan says stiltedly (he forgets all propriety and chugs back the glass of wine. Damon will turn him into an alcoholic at this rate).

(Stefan knows that this day just went from wonderful to despicable. It's just a matter of time before the massacre starts.)


	6. Rosalie is Not Charmed by the Other One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Jacob appears, Edward and Bella go on their honeymoon (read: get pregnant), Emmett and Damon bond over being big brothers, Jasper and Damon bond over being Confederate soldiers (not really), and Stefan and Rosalie are the only ones not taken in by Damon's charms. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or the Vampire Diaries.
> 
> Warning: There is a little profanity (not much).

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asks (but means, "Why haven't you been here for the last eleven and half years? Why did I have to make my own family because you always run off?")

"Just you know, looking for brotherly bonding time," Damon flashes him a snarky smile. (None of the Cullen's has intervened yet, but Emmett and Edward are looking twitchy.)

"Wherever you go, people die," Stefan says. (This conversation they're having is practically scripted, that's how many times they've said this. *Sometimes their parts are switched though. Stefan's not proud of himself.*)

"That's a given," Damon drawls. He doesn't seem to notices how he's standing out in front of all of these people wearing boots, dark jeans, a white tee, and a black leather jacket. Emmett is barreling over now to stand at Stefan' side and his temper is flaring brightly. (Emmett is 6' 1", and stands a little over three inches taller than Stefan. Damon's about an inch shorter than Stefan, so by all rights, he should look intimidated. He's not.)

"Who's this?" Damon has a very drawl-y voice; Stefan notices (and also thinks he may be having a panic attack, what with the looks he's beginning to receive.)

"I'm Emmett. I take it you're Damon," Emmett states in his deep voice, his golden eyes flashing.

Damon smirks and says, "Yeah. This is a lovely wedding reception. Who should I complement on this finery?" Oh, he's laying it on thick, truly. (Damon's always trying to charm away Stefan's friends. One of the reasons Stefan likes Lexi so much is that she's immovable when she's made an opinion of someone.)

"That would be me," Alice is standing at Stefan's other elbow with a fake smile plastered upon her pixie features. Jasper's a half step behind her, eyes his narrowing in on Damon. His (biological) brother knows when he's outnumbered, so he tips his imaginary hat and excuses himself to dance with some of the ladies at the wedding. (Just when Stefan thinks it can't get any worse, Damon checks out Bella. *Edward's pissed.* Then Jacob shows up and he and Bella fight. *Not phsycially.* Edward's there to comfort her, and she still doesn't know about Damon being there yet.)

Rosalie comes to claim a dance from Stefan and they are both fantastic. (Damon whistles and Rosalie gives him such a dirty look that Damon actually takes about three steps back.) Soon enough, Edward and Bella are leaving for their honeymoon. They're both looking very happy and practically run to the car under the shower of rice. (As soon as they are out of hearing distance, Stefan is filled on where they're going on their trip – Esme's Island. Stefan is excited for them.) The guests filter out slowly and Stefan realizes he never did get to meet the Denali Clan. (Maybe next time.)

Soon, it's just the Cullen's and Stefan and Damon. The following conversations very awkward and uncomfortable. ("You mean you usually sparkle?" "I drink human blood" "I'm a doctor at the hospital" "Don't you hurt Stefan again, or you'll have me to deal with, you-") (Yeah.) Once the hostility has mostly bled (Pun intended, of course.) from the room, Jasper and Damon find that they fought in the same war. (But this doesn't make them buddies. If anything, both avoid each other because of the memories evoked.) Emmett is naturally easygoing so as soon as it's clear Damon's not going to kill Stefan after the first fifteen minutes, he starts talking about embarrassing things Stefan's done. (Damon gets into this and shares the Trevi Fountain Incident. It is Not Cool.)

Esme's natural mothering instinct comes out and Damon isn't quite sure what to do when a woman's being so kind to him (that doesn't want inside his pants). Carlisle is polite, but has to leave to the hospital (Lucky bastard, Stefan thinks savagely. Then mentally apologizes, because Carlisle just so damn kind and can't help his schedule.) Alice critiques Damon's clothing choices and wants to make him her second Ken doll. (Damon is aghast and refuses.) Rosalie lifts her nose to Damon and ignores his presence like he's an irritating insect. (Rosalie can be called many foul things, but disloyal is not among them.)

Stefan shifts uneasily and tried to avoid any direct confrontations with Damon. (But they're do a big one, since they've not truly fought since 1994.) It's like being in a war, and you know something's about to happen, and you send someone up to check why you haven't been bombed yet. (Then it hits, and that person is deaddeaddead.) Stefan waits for this to happen. And waits. And waits. (Then it does.)

Bella and Edward have been gone for two weeks and they haven't heard from them, and Damon hasn't caused any trouble (Read: yet). That's when all the shit hits the fan.

Damon starts out by killing Mike Newton (ironic, and Stefan thinks Edward might have possibly laughed if he were here. Maybe.). Carlisle is pissed (because even the good doctor gets mad sometimes too) and Esme's upset and Emmett and Alice are upset. (Rosalie says "I told you so" and Stefan knew that this would happen.) Then it's the rest of Mike's family and Jessica Stanley that's killed. Charlie begins to get suspicious of a serial killer – he has no idea.) Stefan and Damon have a serious fight; there's fangs and blood and it's Not of the Good. Just when Stefan thinks it can't get any worse ("Shouldn't have said that, brother" "Shut up, Damon") the wolves find out and attack.

Stefan defends Damon (even Damon's a little surprised) and the Cullen's defend Stefan. Sam isn't happy, and threatens to kill them all. (Damon postures and then compels.) ("That's not going to work this time!") (It does.) The wolves leave, confused, and Stefan thinks Alice finally understands part of the reason Aro wants Stefan to join his group of merry bloodsucking vampire fiends in Italy.

The Cullen household isn't peaceful for the next few days (Damon hangs around and everything's just awkward) and then Damon promises he's not going to murder anyone else. ("Pinky swear" *smack*) But they truly have no time to worry about that because Bella's calling and what? She's pregnant with Edward's baby and Carlisle talks about aborting it. (Stefan wilts. He likes babies and even if he's never said anything, would have wanted children when he was a human.)


	7. A Birth, A Death, and A Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Rosalie and Stefan and Bella team up to save the baby, Jacob hangs around, Damon meets Leah, and Some Serious Whacked Up Shit happens. (So basically, it's just another day at the Cullen house nowadays.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I do not own Wuthering Heights either.
> 
> There will be profanity; you have been warned.

Stefan worries about Bella (she's practically his best friend, now) and he worries about Edward (who is, Stefan's not going to lie, Stefan's favorite Cullen brother) and thinks he might go stir crazy waiting for everyone to get ready to go to the airport when Rosalie's phone rings. No one pays it any mind (except Stefan) and she answers it quickly. ("Hello?" "Rosalie, it's Bella") Stefan perks up and his head snaps to attention. He opens his mouth but Rose puts her finger over her lips to silence him. (Of course he should be silent, how else is going to hear news about Bella and the mysterious baby?)

Bella asks Rosalie to help her – she wants to keep little E.J. (Edward Jacob, Stefan's mind supplies) and she knows that Rose will help her. ("Why me?" "I know you'll put this baby before my life if you have to") That's why she's called Rose and not Alice or even Stefan (because both of them love Bella, while Rosalie remains barely pleasantly aloof). ("Okay" "Thanks, Rose") Damon's been eavesdropping as well ("Ouch, Blondie. You care for an unborn kid more than you bro's wife? That's sick" "Shut up, you fucker") Stefan's found out that Rosalie absolutely loathes Damon (He's okay with that. He hates Damon sometimes too).

They all pile into their cars to meet Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen, and who does Bella run straight towards? (Not Stefan, but he's standing next to Rose, so does that sort of count? *He's kidding*) Edward reads Rose's mind and snarls aloud ("It'll kill her" "It's her choice!") The ride home has a nasty tense sort of silence hanging around and just when Stefan thinks Edward couldn't be even more furious, he catches sight of Damon (and subsequently sees everything's that's happened in the past few weeks) and flies off the handle. (Stefan thinks he would have brawled right there if it weren't for Bella.)

("Stay away from Bella" "Sure, Eddie, whatever you say" "Can I kick him out?") (Stefan worries that this will be his life now. It's kind of depressing.) Bella's frowning, and wonders aloud ("What's wrong?" "Nothing, it's nothing")

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The next few days fly by and Jacob stops by (And never seems to leave, damnit). He hangs around Bella like she's going to disappear (Rosalie doesn't like this, "That's close enough" "What's your problem?") and he and Damon are always at each other's throats (it seems the only thing Edward and Jacob can agree on besides that the baby is a monster is that Damon is an annoying, sarcastic, snarky fiend Who Has To Go). (Stefan's inclined to agree with them, but alas, Damon's an annoying, sarcastic, snarky fiend who's like a zit that just won't clear up. *Yeah, that was a gross comparison*).

Bella's stomach grows bigger and Rosalie becomes even more protective, and tries to allow only certain access to Bella (i.e. people who like the baby – and Jacob, because Bella nearly throws fits when she can't see him).

Bella's lying on the couch, her belly distended and straining against her shirt and Stefan's sitting on the floor next to her head. Rosalie's only in the next room with Edward (they're having some kind of stare down. Or plotting Damon's demise. Either or is pretty likely.)

"How are you feeling?" Stefan murmurs, looking at Bella. She has bags under eye bags, and she's beginning to look like a war victim – her cheeks are sallow and sunken in and her joints are pointy.

"Eh," Bella laughs weakly, "I've been better. But how about you?" She peers around carefully, looking to see if Damon's lurking. "Damon's back. How do you feel?" (One of the reasons Stefan loves Bella is that she cares so much for her family. She considers Stefan family.)

Stefan rubs at his face tiredly, "He's getting on my last nerve. Everyone else's, too. At least he's stopped ravaging the town for meals – he's getting them at a blood bank from Seattle."

Bella frowns, making lines appear on her strained face, "I feel so bad about Mike and Jessica." She tears up and Stefan hurries to wipe them away.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm so, so sorry that he did that," Stefan pulls out a book, and shows Wuthering Heights to her, "Here, I brought your favorite from your house."

Bella laughs through her tears and teases, "You're breaking and entering into people's houses now? I shouldn't have stayed away so long – your morals are wavering."

"Yeah, yeah," Stefan says and opens the book, "Would you like for me to read it to you?"

"That would be nice," Bella settles down into the couch, rubbing her baby.

"I have just returned from a visit to my landlord - the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven: and Mr Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution, still farther in his waistcoat, as I announced my name."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Jacob finally leaves, he returns scant hours later with two other wolves on his heels ("Get ready. They're coming for Bella" "They're not going to touch her" "Agreed") Stefan manages to persuade Damon to get onto the 'Save Bella' bandwagon (not that it's a hard sell – even Damon's heart of ice is melted when Bella turns her chocolate eyes onto his. Not that he'll admit it).

"Sam's lost the element of surprise and he doesn't want to take you on outnumbered," Jacob's explaining to them all in the Cullen living room. Damon's hanging around, lounging on the wall with an air of disinterest, but Stefan's not fooled (Damon's begun to care for Stefan's new pseudo family. Maybe one day he'll feel like it's his own.)

"He's not going to face you head on. He's got the place surrounded and he'll wait for his opportunity," Jacob continues.

"He won't get through without a fight," Emmett promises. Bella shivers and her weak hands flutter. Stefan takes one of hers into his hand, rubbing circles onto it.

"No fights," Carlisle protests, "No one wants to break the treaty."

"The treaty is void," Jacob says immediately, "At least in Sam's mind."

"Not in ours," Esme corrects.

"Carlisle, no one's hunted for weeks," Emmett protests and his eyes flit over to Stefan and then to Damon. They have to hunt more than the Cullen's.

"We'll make do," Esme says, but she has a worried crease in her forehead. (Stefan wishes he and his brother weren't so different from the Cullen's right now.)

"You've done us a great service, Jacob. Thank you," Carlisle says and Jacob nods. Damon shoves himself off the wall and Edward's head flashes in his direction.

"I think that your hunting solution is obvious," Damon drawls.

Edward's eyebrows are furrowed when Stefan looks at him for clues, but eventually turns back to his brother, "What's obvious?"

"I lead our wolfy friends on a merry chase while you all go hunting. It'll be fun and they won't touch me." (This is something incredibly selfless for Damon to do, and Stefan wonders if there are other motivational factors are causing this decision. Edward nods out of the corner of Stefan's eye, and he knows that this is what Edward's thinking too.)

Despite everything that he's done, Esme is worried about him, "You'll be injured, or worse."

Damon gives a small smile (it's small, but there, and true) as he promises, "They won't."

(Stefan believes him; his brother has always been good at alluding people and diverting unwanted attention. Plus, the wolves are able to be compelled, so Stefan's not too worried.) (Not to say that he's not at least a little bit worried. Just a little.)

The Cullen's exchange glances, and eventually decides that this sounds like a good plan. (They have no other choice, truly, that will result in no bloodshed.) Damon goes off that evening and practically everyone goes to hunt (except Carlisle and Esme, who've fed the most recently.) (It takes nearly three hours to persuade Rosalie to go with them – her eyes are black as pitch.)

Everyone else hunts and when they return, nothing is amiss. (Except for the fact that Damon's still missing, but Stefan tries not to dwell on that. Or else he'll really start to worry.) But thankfully, Damon returns mostly intact and almost jolly.

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Bella's gets worse and worse. Her body is rejecting food, and Stefan wonders if maybe she needs blood – Edward jerks up ("I should have thought of that" "Of what?" "The fetus needs blood, not food" "Of course"). They try it and it works (a miracle among miracles) but soon they're depleting Damon's stock pile ("That's just great"). Everyone keeps their eyes out for the wolves, and Alice moans about not being able to See (Jasper comforts her). Stefan keeps reading Wuthering Heights to Bella until they finish it ("Let's read something else now" "What do you want to read?" "Alice in Wonderland?" "Of course")

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'"

Stefan leaves the room when Edward comes in with Carlisle ("It's crushing you from the inside out") Stefan walks faster.

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They run out of blood quickly, and Carlisle has to make a run to a hospital in Seattle. Jasper, Esme, Emmett, and Alice need to hunt again. (Damon volunteers to run interference, but Jacob takes care of it.) Jake comes back and soon thereafter Bella drops one of her last cups of blood ("I've got it" "Let get that" "No!") Something's ripped inside of Bella and she seems to be stuck in suspended animation until she just flops to the ground ("Is she okay?" "The baby!" "Bella!")

Edward, Rose, and Stefan get Bella to the room with the operating table in it (Carlisle was planning on performing a C-section soon) and try to help. Damon flits around the door, but eventually decides to go outside – he's not going to be of any real use in there.

He sees Leah outside of the house. "Hey, Wolfgirl."

"Leech," She says flatly, "What's going on?"

"Bella's gone into labor," Damon explains.

"Huh."

There's a piercing shriek and they both can hear Stefan dragging Rosalie out of the room because of her bloodlust. Jacob and Edward race to save Bella's life – they get the baby out. Bella's fading.

"So you're Edward's mini-me's brother?"

Damon laughs out loud, but he freezes when he hears them.

Leah does too.

"Sam," They said in unison and blink at each other.

Damon runs into the house and sees Rosalie and Stefan in the living room with the new baby, Jacob five paces behind them, this mesmerized look on his face as he stares at the baby in Stefan's arms.

"Sam and the others are coming," Damon warns, and Stefan's mind freezes for three seconds (shitshitshitshitshitshit). Stefan's freaking out now, and he hands the baby (Renesmee – Bella was wrong, it was a Renesmee, not an Edward Jacob) to Rosalie to hold. She takes her gratefully, scowling at Damon. They hear Edward come down the steps (flying, truly, Stefan thinks) and the vampires go outside to meet the werewolves head on. Jacob doesn't come (It's weird, why's he staring at the baby like that? He looks like he's in shock.)

Sam and his back descend on them, vicious. Leah and Seth help the Cullen's out, but it's not enough. (The other werewolves are strong, and Stefan knows that he and his family are out numbered 5-to-1, and he's pretty sure they're doomed, but there's a baby in there – a helpless baby – and that spurs Stefan on to fight harder.) Jacob runs out of the house, phasing and jumping in front of them, nose-to-nose with Sam. Stefan wonders what's happened, (What's caused this?) and Edward murmurs aloud ("He's imprinted") and his voice is so relieved, but all Stefan's thinking as he exchanges glances with Damon is ("Oh, shit, Bella's going to be really pissed when she wakes up as a vampire") (Edward probably will be too, after he gets over the shock of his life being spared by half of a second.


	8. Irina Is A Bit Tattle Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one is which Bella becomes a vampire, tries to beat up Jacob, Renesmee grows and grows (and grows) and Irina is a nosy, judgmental, tattle-tale. Oh, and Damon and Leah become friends (That's weird, right?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I don't own Romeo and Juliet.

"Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffick of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend"

Stefan reads to Bella as she turns because he doesn't know how else to comfort her. Her change is nothing like Stefan's; where he simply woke up in transition and then drank human blood, she is going through a relentless agony of fire and brimstone inside her body. (Carlisle gave her morphine, but Stefan's not sure how it's holding up.) Edward sits at her other side, sometimes holding Renesmee, sometimes not. Edward says that the little girl wants her mother – loves her already and wants her to wake up. She must settle for her father and Jacob and everyone else though, for now.

Stefan puts his book down as Renesmee reaches for him, and Edward relinquishes his daughter to Stefan's arms. The baby rests her cheek on Stefan's neck and her little fingers reach up to touch his face. He stiffens as pictures flash across his vision of not his own making. Edward's head swings around to stare at Renesmee, his eyes wide. His gaze goes to Stefan, (But Stefan is staring at the pictures that Renesmee's putting into his mind – there's the entire family and there's Bella on the operating table Mommymommymommy, She thinks to him, showing him pictures of Bella.)

Edward is amazed and soon everyone downstairs is shuffling around, wondering what all the fuss is about. Stefan hears Damon outside with Leah (that's odd, but not too surprising to Stefan) and neither of them is very interested.

Alice flits up the stairs with nearly everyone in tow ("What's going on" "Renesmee's gifted") and there's a flurry of excited murmurs and soon Rosalie has Renesmee into her arms again. Jacob grumbles (while Stefan sympathizes with him, he isn't sure what Jacob should have expected. He imprinted on a half vampire, half human baby whose family is ridiculously overprotective).

Alice ushers everyone out of the room ("Bella's going to wake up" "Now?" "Soon, soon") until it's Carlisle, Edward, Jasper, Emmett, and Alice herself left. ("You have blood running in your body Stefan" "I know no one has told you this, but your blood smells so sweet" "It's for your own safety" "Damon's being good, he's outside" "Play with the baby") Stefan frowns but he goes downstairs to sit with Rose and Jacob. ("Can I hold Nessie?" – Jacob, "No" – Rosalie") (They remind Stefan of divorced parents, honestly.) (Stefan can't believe that Jake's nicknamed the child after the Loch Ness Monster – Damon says he's overreacting, but Stefan knows Bella will be furious.)

Bella wakes up and wonders where her baby is, but upstairs they manage to get her to go hunt, first. (It's a miracle that she agrees.) The house is restless with worry and excitement while Bella and Edward are gone, and when they're on their back; Jacob insists on giving Bella a test to see if she can be around her baby (involving himself) and Stefan. Stefan quirks his eyebrows (he doesn't understand how he'll be of help – he's a vampire too.) ("They all say that your scent is appealing to vampires, so if Bella can hang around you without jumping you, I say we're good" "That logic is faulty and unreliable" "Please?")

The boy has puppy dog eyes and so Stefan agrees (only to see Bella sooner). Jacob jumps out at her, but Stefan simply walks up to Bella and smiles at her ("You read to me" "You heard that?" "Yeah. Thanks") Bella passes Jacob's test, but the latter is still worried (and everyone else is irritated) and Bella doesn't understand what Jake's deal is. (They finally get inside – Bella doesn't know about the imprinting yet.) Everyone is extra cautious, but she eventually gets to hold her baby (and finds out about her special talents). Everything's lovely until Bella finds out at that Jacob's imprinted and calling her baby 'Nessie." ("You named my baby after the Loch Ness Monster!") And Stefan tells Damon ("I told you so") but Damon doesn't have time to respond because Bella's launching herself at Jacob.

(Leah and Seth get in the way and Damon makes sure Leah's okay. Stefan does a double take.) When they get inside, Bella apologizes to Seth (whose hurt) a million times, only to find out the vampire venom is fatal to werewolves. Stefan shudders ("I wonder what would happen if any of our venom was to . . . permeate your bloodstream . . .")

Everything begins to settle down after that and a peaceful calm envelopes the Cullen family. Damon doesn't ravage the town (He's pinky sweared not to, and Stefan is still laughing about the mark Rosalie left on Damon's face from that slap) and actually likes Renesmee (Stefan refuses to call her 'Nessie.') (He and Bella make a pact not to call her that. It's silly.) And Bella. (Edward doesn't like Damon on principle and tries to keep his daughter away from him. It doesn't quite work.)

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Stefan, Bella, Jake, and Ness (Stefan and Bella finally decide that 'Renesmee' is a mouthful, so they call her 'Ness' sometimes) go hunting in the forest (Ness grows faster than anything Stefan's seen – everyone worries tremendously about it. Bella worries about Ness growing old and dying before she's had a long, happy life) and though Ness likes blood bags better (Damon swears he has nothing to do with that) she'll consent to hunt animals if Jacob races with her. (That's fine – Bella and Stefan will hunt leisurely.) They pause in a clearing, watching Ness and Jacob take down a deer and Bella smiles (She's proud of her kid).

Stefan hears something though (it's a sharp intake of breath – a shocked exclamation) and his head flashes into the direction it's from. Bella is too – and she raises her hand in a half-wave. But the beautiful blond scowls and races off.

"Um, that's bad," Bella says, frowning and worried.

"Who was that?" Stefan asks.

"Irina. She was kind of courting Laurent when Jacob and the original wolf pack tore him apart."

"Whoops."

"Yeah. That's definitely a whoops."

"You want me to follow her while you keep an eye on Renesmee and Jacob?"

"I don't know . . ." Bella trails off (She's worried about him) but Stefan is already running after the lovely blond vampire. He catches up ("Hey, wait!" *Hiss* "That's not what it looked like!") But Irina spins around and punches Stefan so hard in the forehead that he flies back into a tall redwood tree. He sees stars and the world tilts on its axis worryingly. Irina spins on her heels and runs away, leaving only dust in her wake. Stefan shakily lifts his hand to his head and pulls it away to see blood (there's so much blood). Darkness begins to overtake him when he hears a horrible scream (he's pretty sure it's Bella).

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan wavers between consciousness for a while, feeling cool hands around his face and head and skin.

"There's been severe damage to his frontal and occipital lobes– "

"What does that mean?"

"Damage to the frontal lobes can affect emotions, impulse control, language, memory, and social and sexual behavior. Occipital lobes are the part of the brain located in the back of the head and to damage to them can cause visual field defects and distorted perceptions of size, color, and shape."

"But he's going to fine, right? He's a vampire."

"His accelerated healing should take care of it if we get enough blood in him and I make sure there are any skull fractures piercing his –"

Stefan blacks out again before anyone can notice he was awake.


	9. This Is War, Not A Tea Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Stefan recovers, Damon hovers, Alice&Jasper leave, and the Cullen's gather witnesses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I do not own Frankenstein.

"'But soon,' he cried, with sand solemn enthusiasm, 'I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.'

"He sprung from the cabin-window, as he said this, upon the ice-raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in the darkness and distance."

Stefan blinks open his eyes for the second time to hear Bella's new lovely, lilting voice reading to him. He takes stock and notices the dull ache encompassing his head. He's lying on a soft, fluffy bed with a quilt drawn up to his chest and Bella is sitting in a chair next to him. (Where is he?) Damon is sitting on his other side, sleeping (snoring) and Stefan tries to talk but the words are kind of jumbled (along with the everything else. Everything's kind of blurry.)

Bella looks up from her reading and a smile breaks out across her face. "Hey, Stef." But her smile is wavering and Stefan finally gets some words out of his mouth ("What happened?" "Irina bashed your head in: literally") and then explanations spill from her lips ("You were really, really hurt" "Alice had a vision" "She and Jasper left" "They haven't come back yet and we're really worried") and Stefan settles back into his pillows tiredly. Damon wakes up ("Let Stefan have a little breathing room, Bella") and Bella nods and she says that her and the others (discounting Rose, Ness, and Jake) are going to go look for Alice&Jasper (they're a unit; if you find Jazz, Alice is there and vice versa).

She flits out after assuring that he's okay (Bella promises that Edward will come see him as soon as they get back). The world is still kind of fuzzy and colors bleed together a little bit (but that's okay because it's only Damon in there with him). Time passes weirdly and soon the rest of the Cullen's are home. Carlisle and Edward come to see how his head is healing ("There's no lasting damage")

Edward explains about Alice's vision; Irina went to the Volturi and told them that the Cullen's had created an immortal child (which is a Major No No and Not True) and that they needed to gather witnesses to stand up for them. (The Volturi were coming and that same nightmare Stefan always has whenever they're mentioned plays again.) Alice had then pulled Jasper away and the two of them had run across the ocean and left a note with Sam. (Alice&Jasper had abandoned them? That doesn't sound right and Stefan *and the rest of the Cullen's* are sure there's more to it than that.)

The Cullen's decide to divide and conquer; Carlisle and Esme look for other covens (Irish, Egyptian, French, etc.) and Rose and Emmett look for wanderers and loners. Edward and Bella stay with Ness (and subsequently Stefan and Damon) and Jacob and his pack. The first coven to come will be the Denali Coven (awkward, what with Stefan's injuries).

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan decides that he's not going to lay in bed ("Dr. Fang said you need to heal" "Shut up, Jacob") and goes downstairs to sit with Edward&Bella and Ness. (Damon hovers. It's Weird.) When he gets down there, Stefan explains. ("I'm feeling better") They welcome him and soon the Denali Coven comes ("What have you done?" "She's not an immortal child" "She is!" "Listen to her heartbeat!")

Once things settle down (and they do) Damon hits on Tanya, who flirts with him, along with Kate. Carmen and Eleazar are kind (they remind Stefan of Esme and Carlisle) and Stefan gets along with them. (The Denali Coven apologizes for Irina's actions.) (It's still Not Okay, but there's nothing to be done and Stefan's healed – for the most part.)

Jasper's friends Peter and Charlotte come (they say Jasper and Alice sent them, but they have no idea what for) which reassures everyone that Jasper&Alice are okay. (Stefan's relieved.) Soon, all kinds of vampires are coming to witness (and all of them have one thing in common: they fall in love with Ness) and all of them are on board except for Alistair (one of Carlisle's eccentric friends from Europe) who hides in the attic. (Damon twirls his finger around his head for the universal crazy symbol.) ("Damon!" "What? It's true") (It kind of is.)

The rest of the Cullen's return and still more covens appear all the time. Zafrina and her bunch of African sisters are interesting (Damon says they're hot and Stefan' inclined to agree) and the Irish Coven just has three members (Siobhan, her mate, and a young girl Maggie) and the Egyptian Coven (four members) and so many more. A drifter called Garret (a patriot from the American Revolution) falls for Kate and her wily charms. (And her electric touch.)

However, out of all of the new covens, the Romanian Coven is the strangest (in both Stefan and Bella's opinions) who are called Vladimir and Stefan. ("Hey, Stef, that's you and Damon in four hundred years" "Shut up, Emmett")

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella's been acting strange and been to Seattle twice for long periods of time. (Stefan asks her about it, but Bella says she can't say anything because Edward will read his mind, and Edward can't know about This One Thing.) So Stefan doesn't push her.

The date of the confrontation (this is what it's called in Stefan's jumbled head) is coming up soon and Stefan and Damon hide flame throwers around places they'll stand during the Volturi's visit. Edward had given Stefan a look. ("What? We are clearly not as strong as you super vampires, so we're bringing in the big guns" "Flame throwers" "I'll have you know I have a good aim and am excellent at hitting things with these" "I don't want to know how" "Probably not")

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They all find out that apparently besides super self-control, Bella is some kind of mental shield (It's kind of epic). And she practices with Kate (who has some electricity power or something – Damon gets shocked a couple of times. Stefan laughs at him.)

Everyone trains and trains (and trains) for the confrontation ("It's going to be peaceful" "Look around you! These aren't witnesses! This is an army!" "It won't come to that" "It already has")

Stefan's holding Renesmee while Edward and Bella and Kate train with Bella's shield when Ness shows him Alice&Jasper. Stefan smiles at her kindly, "I don't know where they are, Renesmee. No does, right now. But we know that they're safe." (They don't. Ness is smart enough to know this.)

She looks at him doubtfully.

"Yeah, I'm not sure whether I believe me either, Ness." Renesmee lays her head on Stefan's shoulder and he looks at the sky and knows that it's almost time for them (The Volturi) to come.


	10. Aro Is A Creeper, And So Damon Tells Him So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which the Volturi comes, everyone sees Stefan's badasser-y skills with a flamethrower, Damon pisses off Jane (and likes it), and (almost) everyone lives happily ever after (kind of).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I don't own the White Stripes' song.
> 
> Warning: Profanity and major character death.

"I'm gonna fight 'em off  
A seven nation army couldn't hold me back  
They're gonna rip it off Taking their time right behind my back  
And I'm talking to myself at night because I can't forget  
Back and forth through my mind behind a cigarette"

 

Edward is the one to announce it's time and their huge party of vampires (and two wolf packs) move to the baseball field and wait (and wait and wait) until they hear the snap of a twig signaling someone's approach. Stefan is standing next to Bella, who's next to Edward, who's next to Jacob. Damon is on Stefan's other side, looking forward to seeing the guys that give Stefan nightmares (every night). (Stefan thinks Damon either wants to put names to faces or go over to kick their asses for scaring his little brother. Stefan doesn't know whether to be touched or offended.)

The Volturi glide across the ground like ghosts, their own witnesses surrounding them. One look at Bella's face tells Stefan that she thinks there's no way out of this. She puts Renesmee on top of Jacob's back (he's in wolf form, so it's not weird or anything) with a little backpack on her back. Renesmee's sad; her lip is pooched out and tears gather into her eyes. ("Shush, darling, don't cry" "But Momma") Stefan looks away. Damon smirks at him (but it's not top notch, so Stefan knows he's nervous) and shoves his hands into his leather jacket.

Aro starts to talk ("You've brought an army, my friend?" "They're witnesses, just like you have") with Carlisle (apparently they were friends back in the day – you never know what you'll learn about your parents). As soon as they figure out that Ness is not in fact an immortal child, the Volturi execute Irina. ("No!" "Let her go!" *screaming*) Tanya and Kate have to be held back to keep from attacking (which would have provoked the Volturi into a fight – what the Italians wanted) and then Jane is trying to get through Bella's shield. When she can't, Jane becomes furious and Damon taunts her. ("Hey, prissy bitch! You're lookin' a little blue!" "Imbecile!" "Thanks, sweetheart, I love you too")

"You blockhead," Stefan hisses to Damon as Jane gets more worked up. Aro is almost amused at this, but Caius is scowling.

"I see your brother is alive and well," Aro crows, "Come here, young Stefan, and bring your brother. Come along."

The Cullen's side becomes tense at this, and the Volturi's side is confused at the new proceedings. Edward nods for Stefan to go, and so he does, dragging Damon along. ("You have a flamethrower up here?" "Nope" "Ah, shit") (That's about right.)

They get up there and Aro takes Stefan's hand to see his thoughts, smiling (it's weird and Damon is eyeing Aro like he should be in a strait jacket – as he probably should).

"You've thought a lot about what I said the last time we met," Aro says to Stefan and Stefan shivers. (He can't help it) Damon frowns.

"Are you not curious?" Aro wonders and Stefan swallows thickly.

"No."

"Ah, well. Maybe you'll consent for an . . . experiment some other time. Unless Damon is interested . . . ?" Aro trails off and looks at Damon.

"You're not my type," Damon says, "I like my women dark headed and sexy. Since you're none of the three, I'll have to pass." (This pisses of Jane even more and she's spitting mad. Aro laughs uproariously. It's creepy.) Stefan and Damon are free to go back to their side and Aro regretfully (not that regretfully) says that they don't know what Renesmee will grow up to be ("It's unpredictable. If only we could know . . . ")

Then Alice&Jasper the unit shows up and everyone whispers Alice's name in reverence. ("What about Jasper?" is what Damon wants to know, so he says Jasper's name as well "So he won't feel left out") They've brought another half-breed and his aunt, and the last of Zafrina's clan with them. Everything looks like it's going to be fine until Jane appears to have had enough waiting. (And so she shoots the last of the African clan with her torture power-thingy. Everything goes to hell in a hand basket from there.)

Bella slams her hand into Jacob's side to make him run with Renesmee and then they're gone (like rockets) running through the forest at an incredible speed. Stefan and Damon whip out their flamethrowers ("Watch out unless you wanna be barbecue!") (Stefan wasn't lying to Edward – he kicks ass with his flamethrower.) ("I get to torch Aro!" "He hit on me!")

(Then there is some serious fighting going on in which Stefan sees Bella take on Jane. Edward and Demetri throw down and before Stefan can get to Aro, Carlisle kicks his ass – it's epic.) Stefan goes to the next best person (Caius) and torches him up like a firework. Damon finds Marcus, but the latter just wants to die (his mate's been dead, for like, ever) and so Damon kills him quickly before fighting Felix with Emmett.

Jasper and Alice are the perfect team; Alice Sees who's coming and Jasper's war days come back to him and he dominates the battlefield. Rosalie's temper comes in use as she and Heidi probably have the best cat fight in history. ("Let me at her!" "Bitch!" "You were going to kill my niece!") (Yeah.)

The Volturi's witnesses have disappeared and some of the Cullen's have as well, but the fight is still vicious (it lasts a while) and just when Stefan thinks it might be over, something stings on his upper thigh. He looks down and faintly thinks (too bad Aro's dead, his curiosity is about to be cured). Fire like pain spreads throughout Stefan's body and he grimly bears down; if he's going to die he's going to go out fighting. (So he sets the flamethrower's setting on 'ON' and uses his strength to make it stay ("Bombs away!") and throws it towards the last remaining Volturi guard members.)

(They go out with a bang.)

There's a huge explosion and everyone's blown back a least a hundred feet. The rest of the Italian vampires are gone (and that's awesome) but Stefan can't really enjoy it. (His leg is on fire, and the pain has spread to his entire lower body and working its way up to his frantically beating heart.) He drops to the ground slowly, convulsing with seizures. ("Stefan!")

He closes his eyes. (And thinks: Why does this crap always happen to me?)


	11. Damon Joins The Cullen Family (Officially) And Likes It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which the point of view goes to someone else, Stefan gets the shock of his (un)life, and everyone lives happily ever after (for real, this time).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I don't own The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Bella Cullen loves her family and her part in it; she's a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a wife. She takes these things seriously, and when one of her own was hurt, she freaks out (just a little). The battle with the Volturi was bloody and involved a lot of fire (Stefan wasn't kidding when he said he was good with a flamethrower. Damon wasn't half bad either.)

She's the first one to find Stefan as he writhes on the ground, venom surging through his veins, eating him alive. (Bella might have screamed.) She gathers him into her arms and races back to the clearing ("Carlisle!") Some of her other family is reattaching limbs and Damon is scorched, but he runs when he sees Bella's cargo. ("What happened?" "I don't know, I don't know!") Then Carlisle is there, looking over Stefan ("The venom is spreading faster than I've ever seen in my life" "What's that mean? What's happening to him?" "I don't know")

Some of their witnesses leave but some stay (the Africans and the Denali Clan) and everyone goes to the house. Bella sets Stefan down on the table Bella change on with Carlisle looking him over, and Bella and Edward hovering at the door, and Damon is standing next to Stefan, gripping his hand tightly in his own. (Rose has to leave – she can't watch another person go through this and she needs to find Nessie.) Emmett goes with her, and Alice and Jasper are downstairs, reattaching Jasper's left arm. Esme is with them.

Bella settles in for long haul.

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"The sixth of January, 1482, is not, however, a day of which history has preserved the memory. There was nothing notable in the event which thus set the bells and the bourgeois of Paris in a ferment from early morning. It was neither an assault by the Picards nor the Burgundians, nor a hunt led along in procession, nor a revolt of scholars in the town of Laas, nor an entry of "our much dread lord, monsieur the king," nor even a pretty hanging of male and female thieves by the courts of Paris. Neither was it the arrival, so frequent in the fiftee-" 

Bella freezes in her reading. There. His heart is slowing down. "Carlisle," She calls and then Stefan's heart stops beating altogether. Damon sits up next to Bella, leaning forward. Carlisle and Edward appear in the room, and everyone stops what they are doing downstairs. Bella can hear Rosalie explaining to Renesmee that Uncle Stefan is waking up.

Bella hopes he is.

"Stefan," Bella whispers, and his eyes begin to flutter. Stefan has grown even paler and more beautiful in the night (for his turning did not take the normal three days – though his turning was anything but normal). Everyone is prepared to see brilliant red ruby eyes on Stefan's face, and so they are shocked to see something entirely different.

His eyes are emerald green.

(The venom has enhanced everything about Stefan's vampirism – Bella wonders if his bloodlust will be greater as well.)

There are gasps as Stefan blinks and sits up (with such speed!) and asks, "What happened? I was bitten –" Stefan is searching the room, his eyes frantic. Damon slips to his side, ("You're okay")

They explain everything about this to the best of their knowledge – not that they know much. (The venom which normally corrects and fixes everything in a human, overtaking their blood, has enhanced Stefan's abilities and features – he is faster, stronger, more beautiful, eyes brighter than before. It's a bit much to take in.) (Stefan wants to try out his new speed.) He can smell Renesmee downstairs, but she's not appetizing like Edward feared she'd smell to Stefan (though Jacob does smell more rank, now).

Stefan checks to see if his tattoo made it (it didn't) and wants to go outside. ("I want to see how the world is different") So Bella and Edward and Damon take him. (They race and wrestle and hunt.)

("I bet I'm still stronger than you" "No you're not") (Damon's not.) They go back to the house, and Stefan and Damon loiter in front. ("Are you staying?" "How could I leave now, brother? You'd have all the best adventures without me") (They certainly can't have that.)


	12. Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which it is the end, the Romanians are Boss, and Stefan meets his true love. (And Damon and Elena get together.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or The Vampire Diaries. I do not own any Robert Frost poems.

Stefan enjoys his new hybrid vampire status almost as much as he enjoys his life with the Cullen's. His speed is such that he keeps match with Edward (the fastest vampire Stefan's ever seen) and he can beat Emmett in arm wrestling matches (so can Bella though, her still having a touch of newborn strength still). He blends in better with the humans than the other Cullen's (but not as well as he once could) with his eyes being something other than gold. (It is such a peculiarity – his eyes turn black with thirst now, like the others, but he's kept his fangs that come out when he feeds. *It's pretty awesome*)

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A week after the battle with the Volturi (now decimated) the Cullen's get a greeting card from the Romanian Coven (which is declaring themselves the new hierarchy of vampires) saying the Cullen's will be left alone while they rule the vampires (world).

(It's funny, and kind of ridiculous, but it makes the Cullen's breathe a sigh of relief.)

The Cullen's move from Forks to Mystic Falls to make their next home. (It feels kind of weird for Stefan and Damon, being there again.) They move into the Salvatore boarding house (which is large enough for everyone, including Jacob and his pack – which have come with them.) (Stefan and Damon's nephew Zach isn't sure what he's going to do with all these people in his house now – Esme feels bad that they've intruded, but Damon insisted it was fine) Everyone enrolls in school (except for Carlisle, Esme, Damon, Renesmee, Leah, and Rose&Emmett.) (This doesn't leave too many actually attending school, really.)

On their first day in Mystic Falls, Stefan rescues a damsel in distress and it turns out his damsel (but not princess) is Elena Gilbert. (She looks exactly like Katherine!) He saves her from drowning over Wickery Bridge and Bella is with him (so they manage to save Elena's parents too). They take the Gilbert family to the hospital (where Carlisle treats them). Stefan hangs around to make sure Elena is okay (she looks just like Katherine!) and Damon swings by. Stefan visits her room, and Damon follows (it's like love at first sight – so Stefan steps out of the room and right into Caroline Forbes' arms. Completely on accident. He swears.)

The blond smiles at him brightly. ("Hi! I'm Caroline!" "I'm Stefan Salvatore" "Your eyes are electric!") Stefan feels his face flush and sees Bella blow mock kisses at him from behind Caroline. His neck flushes even more.

("Do you want to go out with me?" "Uh, um, I mean – that is – okay. Let's do it") This is how Stefan starts to date Caroline. (She's fun, and perky, and balances Stefan out perfectly.)

Elena and Damon become attached at the hip (like, immediately) whenever she's not in school. Stefan becomes good friends with her (because Elena is impossible not to like) and her friends (Caroline, Bonnie, and Matt). Alice fits in perfectly, right along with Bella (her eyes are a nice pretty gold now) and they have their own little clique (Edward deigns to join them later – only because Bella's been taken in).

The wolves fit in with the jocks (surprise surprise) and sit with the Cullen's and their friends at lunch (they've pushed a bunch of tables together for this purpose.)

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"Lovers, forget your love,

And list to the love of these,

She a window flower,

And he a winter breeze.

When the frosty window veil

Was melted down at noon,

And the caged yellow bird

Hung over her in tune,

He marked her though the pane,

He could not help but mark,

And only passed her by

To come again at dark.

He was a winter wind,

Concerned with ice and snow,

Dead weeds and unmated birds,

And little of love could know.

But he signed upon the sill,

He gave the sash a shake,

As witness all within

Who lay that night awake.

Perchange he half prevailed

To win her for the flight

From the firelight looking-glass

And warm stove-window light.

But the flower leaned aside

And thought of naught to say,

And morning found the breeze

A hundred miles away."

"Do you like that poem?" Stefan asks in his room at the boarding house. He and Bella are sitting side by side, and Stefan is reading one of Robert Frost's works. Bella is reading Stefan's diary from 1864. Bella murmurs distractedly, "Uh huh."

"What did I just read, then?" Stefan teases and his bright green eyes flash playfully. Bella swats him away.

"Something about Edward." Stefan laughs aloud, and tickles Bella's side. She squeals. ("Stop! I'll sic Edward on you!" "Just you try!")

When they've settled down, Bella says, "You were really in love with this girl – Katherine." And Stefan fights with his instinct to clam up. (He needs to let Katherine go. Forever. And he mostly has. He has Caroline now – all blond and curvy and a little bit shallow, but absolutely wonderful and full of love.)

"Yes. Then I found out she was vampire and she compelled me to still act in love. So I did," Stefan says quietly.

Bella frowns, "She sounds . . . like a real catch." (Stefan laughs)

"Momma! Uncle Stefan!" Renesmee bounds into Stefan's room, full of energy and radiant happiness. She hops onto the bed and into her mother's lap. She puts her hand upon Bella's face, and Bella's eyes cloud over and she smiles. "Daddy wants to go hunting with you. He said."

"He did, did he?" Bella asks.

"Uh huh," Ness smiles toothily, "Oh, and Uncle Stefan?"

"Yeah, Ness?"

"Your girlfriend's downstairs being mobbed by Auntie Alice," Renesmee says solemnly.

"I'd better go rescue her then," Stefan says and gets up off of his bed. Bella and Ness walk with him downstairs where Caroline can be seen chattering with Alice and Rosalie happily.

"Stefan!" She calls when she sees him, "Alice is fashion genius!" Stefan smiles and Bella goes to Edward's side with Renesmee at a human pace (Caroline doesn't know about the vampire thing yet – Stefan's going to tell her soon.) Caroline says good-bye to the Cullen girls and grasps Stefan's bicep and tugs him out of the house to her little car. ("Let's just drive somewhere" "Where?" "Anywhere")

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It is a nice, quiet life for the Cullen's (they haven't had nice and quiet, really, since Bella met Edward. *Or since Stefan met them*)

It doesn't last, of course.

But that's another story.


End file.
